Reduce Your Time in Purgatory: Follow Pope Francis on Twitter…Yes Really

This is an old post from last July, but I wonder how many people have seen this?

Catholics believe in Purgatory. Purgatory is where people supposedly go after death if they have not done enough penance for their sins according to the Catholic church. In the churches own words: God requires satisfaction, and will punish sin, and this doctrine involves as its necessary consequence a belief that the sinner failing to do penance in this life may be punished in another world, and so not be cast off eternally from God.

You can read more on that here

So, while Christ’s sacrifice on the cross did indeed bring forgiveness of sin, according to the Catholic church, you still have to pay enough for your sins or you will go to Purgatory for additional punishment. This smacks of buying your salvation, works based salvation.

Either Christ paid for our sins, our He did not. You cannot have it both ways. If the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross paid for our sins, and it did…then we cannot do anything to pay for them ourselves or we are invalidating the crucifixion of Christ. The idea here is that one must be perfectly clean, pure and holy to enter God’s presence after death (I agree but that is accomplished by Christ)…so we need to have been punished enough to completely remove the stain of sin upon us according to Catholic doctrine. This is purely ridiculous. I know someone will argue that my interpretation is wrong here…but go read what the Catholic church says itself! Again…we can do nothing to remove the stain of our sins, only Christ can do that. If we need to suffer for our sins so that we may enter into the glorious presence of God after death, then I ask you why did Jesus have to suffer and die for us? Insisting that we as humans need to suffer a certain amount so that we can be unstained in order to enter into God’s presence is saying we need to make payment! Salvation is a free gift, yet the doctrine of the Catholic church would have you believe that you must purchase it. You need to suffer enough for your sins, you must give enough etc. In other words: if you MUST do anything to offset your sins, that is paying in some way and you are effectively destroying the gift that God gave you in salvation. If you pay anything no matter how small, then it is no longer a gift! Ephesians 2:8-9

Now while I fully agree that God punishes sin here on earth, the amount and duration of that punishment is at the sole discretion of God, not any man. The Pope does not have any authority over this, and certainly not any Vatican council. The fact that the Catholic church seems to think it can make all kinds of extra rules such as with Purgatory, granting indulgences, granting forgiveness of sin if you do as the priest tells you to do, and the required veneration of Mary…well they are much more descended from the Pharisees than from Peter.

Think about this, first the Catholic church suggests that you must suffer enough for your wrong doing or you cannot enter into God’s presence, then they say: oh wait…we can lessen your additional punishment in Purgatory if you do these things we say. Like Follow the Pope on Twitter. Really??? Ok so you also have to pray, confess your sin, and go to mass. Still sounds like purchasing favor to me.

Where is any of this in the Bible? Did I maybe miss Twitter in the Bible? Anyone?

I have had believing Catholics tell me they doubt the veracity of the Pope, then say that the doctrine of the Catholic church is sound. Uh…you just contradicted yourself. Don’t get me wrong here, this is no attack on Catholic people as I have been accused of. I hope people read this and search out the truth for themselves. How can anyone see all the contradictions in the Catholic church and believe in it? Many many people who took up their Bibles and read them for themselves have left the Catholic church…there is a reason for that.
The Catholic church leads people astray and does them a disservice all to often. They tie up loads on the people’s shoulders that no one should have to bear. The Pope wants to make nice with every other religion. We are to be separate from other religions.
Deuteronomy 13:6-10 The Pope says it is not up to him to judge if homosexuals go to heaven. The Pope is taking things of the Living Word of God and ignoring them! In the Old Testament God said to take two men who had lain together and kill them! Leviticus 20:13 How much more clear does anyone need this to be? Just for the record…God does NOT hate homosexuals as some sites wrongly say! God loves them as He does you or me. If the homosexual repents of this behavior asking forgiveness…that person will go to heaven. It’s all in the Bible, look it up!

One last thing on Purgatory: remember the story about Lazarus and the Rich man? Luke 16:19-31 Lazarus and the rich man both died. Lazarus was being comforted by Abraham while the rich man was in hell in torment. There was a chasm in between them that none could cross over. So much for Purgatory.

Court in charge of forgiveness of sins says those that follow upcoming event via social media will be granted indulgences

Around 1.5 million are expected to flock to Rio de Janeiro to celebrate World Youth Day with the Argentine pontiff later this month. But for those who can’t make it to Brazil,  forgiveness may be available to contrite sinners who follow Francis’s progress via their TV screen or social networks.

The Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary, the Vatican court that rules on the forgiveness of sins, has said that indulgences may be given to those who follow the “rites and pious exercises” of the event on television, radio and through social media.

The Penitentiary said that Pope Francis’ Twitter account, which has already gathered seven million followers, would be one such medium.

Vatican officials, noted however, that to obtain indulgences over the internet or otherwise, believers would first have to confess their sins, offer prayers and attend Mass.

“You can’t obtain indulgences like getting a coffee from a vending machine,” Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, head of the pontifical council for social communication, told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

SOURCE: The Independent